388 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANXETTE. 



shown by the water-level going steadily down on the 

 ship's side, the weight holding her down becoming less. 

 We now have the sea-level at nine feet seven and a 

 half inches forward. 



June 2Qth, Saturday. — A drift of eight miles N. 

 85° W. Thus it goes, east one day, west the next, 

 north one week, south the next. When will this come 

 to an end ? Twenty-four fathoms soundings, W. S. W. 

 drift, also encouraging, very ! An opening ten feet 

 wide occurred in the ice half way to the old opening- 

 one and a half miles S. E. of the ship. Much water- 

 sky in all directions. 



June 27th, Sunday. — At ten a. m. made my usual 

 Sunday inspection, and read divine service thereafter 

 in the cabin. From the crow's-nest v^^e can see that 

 we are in the centre of an ice island, a lane of water in 

 some places a quarter of a mile wide surrounding us at 

 a distance of a mile. This would show that the ice 

 does sometimes open in these latitudes, a fact which I 

 had begun to doubt hitherto. 



June 2Sth, 3fonday. — Mr. Dunbar started out this 

 morning with .the dingy to go ducking, intending to go 

 to the lane of water about one mile N. W. of us, and 

 try luck. He came back about four p. m. with thirteen 

 ducks, and informed me that he followed the lane 

 (wdiich he thought ran north) for nearly fifteen miles 

 without coming to its end. The ice on each side (at 

 times two thirds of a mile wide) was very old and heavy, 

 five and six feet out of water, and so deep under water 

 that he could not see the bottom of it. I began to look 

 upon this as an avenue of escape, and ran over in my 

 mind how I could get the ship through the mile of in- 

 tervening ice into the lane and push on for something. 

 But I need not have exercised my slumbering brain 



